This invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a personal box for storing, on a per-identifier basis, a text image that is to be printed, as well as to a method of controlling this apparatus.
A digital copier known in the art has a function for electronically sorting PDL (Page Description Language) images, wherein image data that has been read in by a scanner or image data obtained by receiving and bitmapping PDL data that has been transmitted from a host computer is stored temporarily in a memory such as a hard disk, and designated image data is repeatedly read out of the memory, printed out and sorted.
Further, a digital copier thus equipped with a hard disk may also be provided with a personal box function. With a personal box function, a storage area on a hard disk or the like is divided into areas, which are referred to as personal boxes, that correspond to respective users, and image data bitmapped from PDL data sent from a host is stored temporarily in the personal boxes on a per-user basis. When stored image data is to be output, a personal box is designated from the control panel of the digital copier as needed and the image data that has been read out from the area of this personal box is printed out.
In an apparatus of this kind, a password is sometimes used in order to make it impossible to access image data without permission. When performing printing, for example, a password for accessing a personal box is requested, the password is compared with passwords that have been registered in advance for respective ones of the personal boxes, and printing is carried out only if passwords match. The password is used to demonstrate the legitimacy of the operator by being compared with the registered passwords not only when printing is performed but also when maintenance such as deletion of a personal box per se or alteration of the name of the personal box is performed.
In an apparatus in which passwords are compared to gain access to a personal box, whether or not registration of a password is required or not can be selected. With such an apparatus, data desired to be concealed from other individuals can be protected by registering a password for the personal box in which the data will be stored. Data desired to be shared with other individuals can be made accessible to anyone if no password is registered for the personal box in which this data is stored.
Though the conventional apparatus described above is advantageous in that anyone can use a personal box for which a password has not been registered, a drawback is that anyone can also perform maintenance such as deleting the personal box itself or changing the name thereof.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and a method of controlling the same in which, by always requiring registration of a password for maintenance of a personal box, a password comparison is made at the time of maintenance so that an individual other than a legitimate user is not allowed to perform maintenance on this personal box even if the personal box is one for which a password is not necessary when printing data from the box.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.